Brilliant birding
Ruth reveals the many reasons why an RSPB site in Norfolk is among her favourite birding destinations
If I had to pick my favourite reserve in Britain it would be, without question, Titchwell Marsh RSPB on the north Norfolk coast, because it offers some of the best possible birdwatching experiences in the country, at any time of year. It is apparently the most-visited RSPB reserve in the country, so clearly, I’m not the only one who thinks this. It’s a historical site with evidence of human occupation dating back to Palaeolithic times.
In the past it has been drained for farmland and during the two World Wars it was a military training ground and part of Britain’s coastal defences. Inundated again in the 1953 North Sea Flood, the land was bought by the RSPB in 1973 and managed particularly with Bitterns, Bearded Tits, Avocets and Marsh Harriers in mind. It’s clearly been successful with 334* species recorded on the site, which has SSSI, AONB, SPA and RAMSAR designations.
There’s a tingle of anticipation as you follow the trail from the car park wondering exactly what birds are on the reserve. Titchwell offers a superb mix of habitats so you’re guaranteed a great variety of species. The main path leads you through woodland which opens up to extensive reedbeds on one side of the path and saltmarsh on the other. Next you reach the freshwater lagoon and the first hide overlooking this body of water. Continue along the main path and you pass the tidal saltmarshes, before finally reaching the open sandy beach. We’ve often thought we’d head straight to the furthest point of the beach and work our way back slowly, but it’s impossible. There are simply too many birds along the way!
Wide range of birds
There’s usually at least one Robin posing on the path to the visitor centre, and in winter I’ve been lucky enough to see a cryptic Woodcock lurking in the undergrowth and a Water Rail skulking in the water channel beside the path. The last bushes before the reedbeds often hold a Cetti’s Warbler and then you reach the reedbeds. This is Bittern and Bearded Tit country.
I’ve spent plenty of time scanning the reeds having just missed a Bittern in flight, but I am usually luckier with the Beardies. Their ‘ ping, ping’ call carries well, giving you a heads-up to look out for a ginger streak flying through the reeds. Just occasionally they perch up on top and reward you with a frame-filling view of a handsome male, a glorious sight. Look up and you’re likely to see a Marsh Harrier quartering the reedbeds as it looks for food, another real success story here.
The freshwater lagoon is where you’ll get your biggest hit of birds. The species vary according to season, but the spectacle will delight at any time of year.
From Avocet to Yellow-legged Gull, spring migrants, summer breeders, autumn passage and overwintering species, you can enjoy a wide range of geese, ducks, grebes, herons, waders, gulls, terns, pipits, wagtails and more. From the raised embankment, or either the Island Mere and Parrinder hides, you can enjoy a superb view of hundreds of individual birds going about the daily business of feeding, bathing, preening, breeding and resting.
The most numerous species I’ve seen here? Golden Plovers packed tightly onto the muddy spit like sardines in a tin, until they all decide to lift off to create a sparkling golden cloud in the sunshine, before cascading back down to earth again.
The noisiest? Probably Greylag Geese, though I much prefer the softer gargle from the flocks of dapper Brent Geese, here.
The most entertaining? Avocets, those icons of the RSPB, who look so fragile as they potter through the shallows on spindly legs and swish through the water with delicately upturned bills; but prove so feisty should any bird dare approach their chicks. And the rarest I’ve seen? That award goes to the Great Knot, a rare bird in the UK which obligingly arrived when I was already in the area, making me among the first hundred or so lucky birders to see this bird as it stood out from the crowd in its striking breeding plumage, amid a flock of the common, winter-plumaged Knot. And our best find? When we picked out the Baird’s Sandpiper among a flock of Dunlin.
Seawatching
If you can tear yourself away from the spectacle, the path continues towards the beach, past the Volunteer Marsh and Tidal Marsh. This used to be a brackish lagoon, but in 2010/11, the RSPB undertook major earthworks as part of its programme of ‘managed retreat’, in face of the inevitable rising sea levels and saltwater encroachment. The Parrinder Wall was reinforced while other banks were intentionally breached to allow the sea access to the closest areas, which now act as a natural sponge absorbing the saltwater at high tide while protecting the precious freshwater lagoon further inland. Of course, this salty area attracts birds also, and can be a good place to look for Spotted Redshank, Curlew and Grey Plover, among others.
Finally, you reach the sandy beach. The shoreline can be dotted with waders: Sanderling, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Redshank, Bar-tailed Godwits and more. Cormorants and gulls regularly bathe in a stream outflow to your right; and in winter, you may be lucky enough to spot a Snow Bunting or two pottering among the stones and grassy tussocks.
Seawatching may not be to everyone’s taste, but this is a great place to look for grebes, divers, skuas and sea-ducks passing, while curious seals bob up to watch you.
By now, all that birdwatching may have you feeling peckish, but the RSPB has got that covered with an on-site café. The only downside? The café and visitor centre are back near the car park and to reach them, you must go past all those hundreds of birds again. But as downsides go, it’s a pretty good one!